Cotton-chopper.



J. W. EARNEST.

COTTON CHOPPER.

APPLIOATION nun SEPT.9, 1911.

1,059,2 Patented Apr. 15, 1913.

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J. W. EARNEST.

COTTON CHOPPER.

. APPLICATION FILED-SEPT. 9, 1911. 1 1,059,288." Pa ented Apr. 15, 1913.

3 BEBETS-BHBET 2.

awwwl wa Jamar Wli'arlwst J. W; EARNEST.

COTTON CHOPPER.

. 7 APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 9, 1911. 11,059,288. Patented Apr. 15,1913.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

James WEarnest COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPII COnWASmNGTON. 0.1:.

a JAMES 3W. EARNESQOF, GRANDALL GEORGIA.

corron-cnorrnre; a

T all whom it, may concern V Be it known that I, JAMns EARNES'D,1 a citizen of the United States, residing at.

Crandall, in the county of: Murray and. State of Georgia, have invented new and useful Improvements in. Cotton-Choppers, of which the following is a specification;

. This invention relates to cotton: choppers, and it has particular reference tothat class of: cotton choppers whichaare provided with a shaft supported for. rotation and havinga hub provided withradiating] arms carrying choppingyblades which by the rotation of; the shaft are brought into engagement: with the rqw of growing plants which are thereby chopped out, stands beingJleftat.

suitable intervals.

The principal object of the present inventionlis to so arrange and support thechop ping members that theywwill engage, the row ofplants at an angle ;as the machine.

advances, closely resembling the stroke of a hoe manipulated by hand, and thus eflec tively choppingout the superfluous a plants without injuring or coveringathe plants that:

are leftstanding t.

A further object of the :invention is to produce a} cotton chopper equipped with scraping plows or members, thesamebeing provided with earth engaging. wings, and manipulatinglmeans being provided where by the wings may be pressed in the direci tion of the ground iwlthl varying pressure,

i shall be permitted to work and avoiding inthereby thoroughly and: efficiently regulating the depth to which the scraping plows jury to the growing -plants by scraping or barring oifzthe same too deeply.

Astill further object 0ft the invention is to produce a: simple and improved fi'ame structure whereby the operative parts 0f the device may beadjusted vertically and thrown to a nonoperative position when required inorder to avoid; obstructions in the fieldl or for the purpose of transporting the machine from place to place.

With these and other ends inview. which will readily appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in the improved construction and novel arrangement and combination of parts a which will ?be hereinafter fully described and particularly pointedout in the claims. f In the accompanying 1drawingshas been illustrated lasimpleandipreferred formof the invention, it being, however, understood Specification of Letters Patent.

ated parts. a

rateiiteaapr. 15, 19131.1

. Application filed September 9,1911. Serial No. 648,529.

the precise structural details therein ex-1 thatno limitationxis necessarily made to i hibited, but. that changes, alterations :and

modifications withinthe scope 10f the claims. may be resorted to when l clesiredpi View of a machine constructed in accord-? ance with the inventionh Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is alongitudinal sectional view taken on the line3--3 In the drawings,--Figure l is atop:planin Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional? view taken on the line 4-4 in Fig.1.. Fig.1

5 is a bottom plan view. Fig.6 is a perspective detail view of the chopping wheel detached.

Fig. 7 is a perspective i detail 1 view of the scrapingmembers and itLSSOCl-m view illustrating a modification.

Correspondingparts inthe several figures Fig. 8 is a perspective detail are denoted by like characters of reference y The main frame A of the improved machine may be formed by bendinga bar 10f angle iron or other suitable? material. to form a the. side members 1, l connected together at their rear ends by abridge piece 2,.said side members heingprovided intermediate their front and rear ends wlth ofl:'- sets 3 converging forwardly, as shown. The i or :bearlngs fora revolving axle 4 having.

side members 1,1 are provided with boxes transporting wheels;5. Said. axlelcarries a gear disk 6 having a plurality of annular:

series of teeth7. The disk 6 wliichiis loosely supported on the i axle 4 may i be :connected with the latter for rotation by means of a 1 clutch member 8 which is feathered upon the shaft and which is adapted toengage a correspondin clutch member:9 formed on the hub of t e disk 6. The slidable clutch member orcollari 8 is provided with an annular; groove 10 engaged by a shippinglever 11 which is adapted to be actuated by the foot ofthe operator for whom asuitably supported seat 112 is provided, said. seat being preferably mounteclupoua resilient bar 1 13 secured uponthe abridge member 2 of the frame. a a.

An auxiliary frame is provided, the

sameibeingycomposed of side members 114 and cross bars15,said side members having boxes or hearing :members 16 engagzgingthe axle 4with which the auxiliary fframe is thuspivotallyconnected. The side members 14 of the auxiliary frame are1preferably shapedfto correspond with the ;contour;of:

the side members of the main frame within which the auxiliary" frame is supported, as clearly-seen in the drawings The side mem-c bers of the aunili'aryfframe are provided near their front ends with downwardly ex tending standards '17 carrying the scrapers q \Q T. -barring offl plows 18; Thelstandards 17,;

are connected" together neartheir upperfends' by a transverse r0d-19 and at 'a'suitable 'distance below said vrod 19 by a transverse rod @or brace 20;: Pivotally connected with the plows 18; are earth engaging blades or gage f me1nbers 21-which are connected together by a an upwardly extendingiyoke .or. arch member 22. Pivotallymounted upon the trans- 5 verse rod orbrace 20 is: a lever23 having a ;downwardly extending arm 24 which engages a keeper '251at the upper'end of the. f arch 22." The upwardly extending arm 26 ofthe lever 23i is'connected by a rod 27 with U 2 9 ajhand lever 28 which i'sifulcrum ed upon a longitudinal bar 29 connectingthe cross bars 1 f 1570f; the auXiliary frameB, said hand lever being utilized to actuate the lever 23 for the purpose of; raising or depressing the gage .f'zsmembers 21, as y i q handlever 287 is provided with a stop member .80 engaging a segment rack "31 whereby the parts may be retained in adjusted position.v

The auxiliary frame B is provided with p suitably arranged bracket members 32, 33

-, affording; bearings for a downwardly and f forwardly inclined shaft 34, said sh'aftbeingj I I "equipped with a pinion, 35 adapted to mesh i said'collars may be secured upon-the shaft 7 "for the purpose of retaining thelatter in ad L jiistedpositiom in its bearings, the collars 36' mounting the hoecarrying arms ontthe beveled edge of the hub-38, thesaid arms at diametrically oppositev sides. of the hub extend from; said hub at an angle to each *being, mounted adjacent to'the sides of one Jo-f the bearingmembers or brackets 32. 'The ;sh'aft 34 which is {arranged at an *angle of approximately- 45 degrees t-o the Qsurfa cefof the t ground carries at its lower P 0 ndia hub 38 havinga'beveled edge on which i 'llare secured-a plurality of radially extend A 'in'gfarms 39, said arms being curved topresent the peculiar S-sha'pe indicated in the f"drawi ngs, andfsaidfarms beingalso .con-, nected w1ththe hub in such-a manner as to ,extend upwardlyand rearwardly in the direction of the pinion 35 at the upper end of-'- i theshaftl The arms 39 are secured on the beveled edge ofthe -hub -38 by means ofbolts, 41 and nuts 42. ;Each air-11139 carries a 5 chtpp'in blade 40, said chopping, blades being preferably provided upon the -rear faces thereofwith'bolt members 41; having- 7, projectingthreaded ends thatextendthrough 165 the arms- 39' and are attached to thelatter v hand.

-tains. l It will be seen that asthe'machine means of nuts 42". The chopping blades are mounted and, supported in such a man ner that when the shaft 34: is rotated, the said blades will successively engage the ground at an angle of; approximately, 30 de- ,grees to the row of plants that is to be op- "erated upon, cutting diagonally across the row 'ina manner precisely resembling the stroke of a hoe that is being manipulated by perfluous plants a will thus be' trimmed out by the chopping blades andwillbe de'posited atone side of the row,gthe chopping opera-s.

tion being performed practically without danger of: uprooting or otherwise injuring I the plants that are to be left standing,

The main frame A is 1 provided adjacent V to its front end with bearings for .a rock shaft 43 having a radial arm 44L which. is

connected by'a" flexibleelement such as a chain 45- with the/crossbar 19 connecting the standards-17. The rock shaft 43 is also provided with 'aradial arm 46 which is con nected by a link't'f with ,a hand'lever -48. fulcrumed upon the auxiliary frame B, said lever beingequipped with a stopme'mber 49* engaging rack segment .50; whereby the parts may be retained in adjuste'd-ipositio-n. When the machine is to be used for the purpose of working :out sorghum, cane or. thevlike, the arms 39 are provided in place of the hoes ortchopping bIa'dsAO with teeth 51, substantially astshown in Fig. 8 a of the drawings. 7

From the foregoing "description, taken in connection with theidrawings. hereto anneXed, the operation andadvan-tages: of this invention will be readily understood by those skilledii n' thewart to. which it .appen advances over the ground, motion will be transmitted from the. axle to the revolving shaft 34 carrying; the hub' 38? which is equipped with the chopping device. By

will" by referenceto- Fig. 13. By manipulating the lever 48 the auxiliaryframe may bead justed' to'lift the operative parts ofzthe mar chine from the groundvfor/the :purpose 1 of 1 clearing stumps and other obstructions and I for the purpose of; enabling the machine to be transported froniiplaceto place: By operating .the shipping, lever 11, the machine 1 As the. machine advances" the su- 1, i

may bethrown into and outof gear, as may be desired. By;manipu1ating;the1eVer 28 it will be seen that the earth engaging gage members or runner blades maybe raised or depressed, as may; be desired; It will be evident that by proper adjustment of said gage members, the depth of operationof the plows andthe chopping device may be accurately gaged and regulated according to existingconditions so as to avoid any possibility of thegrowingiplants being in ured: or mutilated by the machine when in oper ation. 7

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new, is 1 a 1. In a cotton chopperya maintransporting frame, a pivotally supportedadjustable auxiliary frame, an inclined shaft supported for rotation upon: the auxiliaryiframe, a chopping wheel carried by said shaft, plow carryingstandards associated Withthe auxiliary frame, earth engaging gage :members pivotally associated with: the plows, and

means for tilting the gage members to various angles to regulate the depth of oper ation of the chopping device.

2. In a cotton chopper, a transporting; frame, a longitudinal inclined driven shaft,: achopping device carried bysaid shaft and;

operating transversely of the row, said chop engaging gage members movably associated with the 1 scraping plows, and means a for tilting the gage members to regulate the depth of operation of the choppingdevice. Intestimony whereof I afiix mysignature inpresence of two witnesses.

JAMES W. EARNEST.5 Witnesses:

Bnssm MCCALLUM, J. L. MCCALLUM.

Copies of: thlslpatent: may be nobtainedlfor five cents: each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, IDLGJ 

